Washington, D.C. — Following President Donald Trump’s decision Friday to decertify the Iran nuclear deal, Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, released the following statement:
The same president who makes dangerous and childish taunts on Twitter is now taking a wrecking ball to a deal that has prevented Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. This reckless decision to decertify puts the deal at grave risk of collapse, sows doubts about the reliability of any deal the United States makes with other countries, and leaves us once again isolated from our allies.
President Trump’s decision also invites a self-inflicted nuclear crisis in the Middle East at the same time the United States is facing a nuclear crisis with North Korea, directly undermining the chances for diplomacy there. With his own national security team—including Secretary of Defense James Mattis—saying that the nuclear deal remains in our national security interest, it’s clear that the president’s motivation for decertifying the agreement is driven by his petty obsession with undoing the achievements of his predecessor when he has nothing to show for his own presidency. And once again, he passes the buck to Congress.
Congress should not now make a bad situation worse by reimposing sanctions on Iran or take any other action that collapses the deal in the absence of any evidence that Tehran has failed to comply with the agreement.
For more information please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected] or 202.478.6327.